Peter Kellner

President of YouGov, political commentator and journalist

These are early days in an argument that may well rumble on for months, even years. Indeed, the trade-off between security-driven rules and individual liberty will, and should, be something that we never stop debating. What this poll suggests is that neither side has a clear lead.

Rita Pal

Independent Medical Journalist. Former Psychiatrist and NHS Whistleblower

With one of the highest rates of post traumatic stress disorder in the world, the impact is obvious. Nevertheless, their plight is largely forgotten by India and west.

Guy Verhofstadt

Leader of the Liberal and Democrat group in the European Parliament and former Prime Minister of Belgium

William Hague surely understands that it is unrealistic and counterproductive to return the EU to unanimity voting. The consequence of that would be complete and utter stagnation and inaction when everyone is calling on the EU to show more decisiveness and efficiency.

John Wight

Writer

The lifting of the EU arms embargo to Syria at the behest of the British and French governments marks a new low in the blood soaked histories of both nations when it comes to their role in the region

Sir John Holmes

Director of The Ditchley Foundation, Co-Chair of the International Rescue Committee UK and former UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs

Some places almost never get the attention they deserve. One of these is the Democratic Republic of Congo. A vast country of some 80 million people, at the heart of Africa. It has struggled since independence in 1960 with a poor colonial legacy, cold war manipulations, venal and incompetent governments, and a succession of wars.

Nicola Blackwood MP

Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon

A new report from Save the Children has revealed another dimension to this silent crisis, showing that children are bearing the brunt of sexual violence in war. It says that in current and former warzones from Sierra Leone to Liberia, Congo to Colombia, more than half of the victims of sexual violence are children.

Liz McKean

Women's Human Rights Programme Director, Amnesty International UK

William Hague's is a welcome voice drawing the world's attention to the urgent need to tackle conflict-related crimes of sexual violence. However, it is also a reminder that governments and the international community have yet to prove they take their obligations on this issue seriously.

Yawo Douvon

Country Director of CARE International in the Democratic Republic of Congo

I ask the other G8 countries, on behalf of the many rape survivors we at CARE have assisted over the years in DRC and other war-torn states, to listen to the voices from Goma and act to end the heinous crime of warzone rape.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind

Member of Parliament for Kensington

In August last year, I wrote an op-ed for the International Herald Tribune calling for Western powers to arm the Syrian insurgents. Over six months later, the case is even more compelling than before.

Graham Sheffield

Director Arts, British Council

There is... a desperate need for help in restoring and maintaining the fabulous wealth of historical monuments across the country, ravaged by years of instability, war and neglect.

Tam Hussein

Writer and journalist

Britain is often vocal about human rights abroad, while not meeting its own standards at home.

Malik Al-Abdeh

Freelance Syrian journalist

At long last, a policy on Syria that makes sense. This week, prime minister David Cameron indicated that Britain was ready to bypass an EU arms embargo and deliver arms to Syria's opposition fighters - much to the horror I expect of Bashar Assad.

Charles Shoebridge

Security analyst and former counter terrorism intelligence officer

The officially stated UK government rationale justifying arming Syria's rebels relies upon at least two flawed assumptions. The first is that pouring sophisticated weaponry into a war zone already awash with weapons will save civilian lives.

Luke Coffey

Margaret Thatcher Fellow, The Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, The Heritage Foundation

Of course, neither the Falkland Islanders nor the UK need America's support for the referendum but the US should back its allies. All the Falkland Islanders are asking for is recognition of their right to self-determination - a right guaranteed by the United Nations Charter and a key principle on which America was founded in 1776.

David Clark

Editor of shiftinggrounds.org and served as Robin Cook's Special Adviser at the Foreign Office 1997-2001

Russia's foreign and defence Ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu, arrive in London tomorrow for the first session of the UK-Russia Strategic Dialogue agreed between David Cameron and Vladimir Putin at the London Olympics last year.

William Bain

Shadow Minister for Scotland, Labour MP for Glasgow North East

A decade has passed since the eruption of brutal violence and conflict in Darfur. In these 10 years, 300,000 people died and three million people were displaced from their homes, fleeing horrifying atrocities.